31 August 2018
While I did not attend the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park, I was at the three day Congress last week in the RDS which preceded the visit of Pope Francis. I found those three days inspiring and uplifting and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk to so many people of faith from so many different parts of the world. I also got the opportunity to attend some of the sessions and discussions with the various speakers – the programme was so wide and varied that it was difficult to know what to attend and unfortunately some of the ones I was interested in were scheduled to run at the same time.
I managed to get into the very first seminar – The Family in Judeo-Christian tradition. You can listen to this at https://youtu.be/xTCQh6KFDfc All speakers were very interesting but the Rabbi was interesting and entertaining! He is the last speaker but worth listening through to the end.
My favourite session was listening to Cardinal Tagle speak on “Life to the Full: Pope Francis on the Throwaway Culture”. Again I had no knowledge of this man but I was impressed by his humanity and compassion and his ability to show his feelings. He had the whole audience laughing and crying and received a standing ovation – well-deserved. I sincerely hope he really is one of the good ones! You can listen to his presentation here: https://youtu.be/gobqX3N26AI
Part of my time in the RDS was spent on the Archdiocese of Dublin stand in the Main Hall – speaking to people about what we do in the Diocese and what I do as a Pastoral Worker. Again a lovely time spent time talking to strangers colleagues and friends.